Permaul helps WI 'A' eke out lead

Veerasammy Permaul took 5 wickets to help the hosts eke out a slender 15 run lead against the visiting India 'A' side. Permaul's victims included Ajinkya Rahane, Cheteshwar Pujara and Rohit Sharama as the visitors failed to build on the great platform laid by their bowlers.

Resuming at their overnight score of 212/8, the hosts could add only 5 more runs as pacer Shami Ahmed ran through the tail dismissing overnight batsman, Kraigg Brathwaite and Devendra Bishoo in quick succession to end the innings at 217.

India 'A' got off to a hopeless start losing Shikar Dhawan for a duck. Abhinav Mukund continued his miserable run of form and was the next to go for just 8 as the visitors slumped to 12/2. Cheteshwar Pujara and Ajinkya Rahane rebuilt the innings after the early losses adding 74 for the third wicket with the skipper being the dominating partner.

Pujara scored his 3rd fifty in a row but the visitors suffered a double blow when Permaul got rid of both Rahane (18) and Rohit Sharma (1) in quick succession. Pujara and Tiwary added some runs before both were dismissed to leave India 'A' floundering at 123/6.

The later order chipped in with useful knocks to guide the visitors past 200 before being bowled out 15 shy of the first innings score of the hosts. Pujara top scored with a battling 67 while Rahul Sharma chipped in with 30. Permaul finished with 5/58 and was well supported by Johnson who took 2/28.

The West Indies 'A' openers survived the remainder of the day without any hiccups to boost the lead to 21 runs. The match is nicely poised with two days still remaining.